The start of the season is definitely difficult for Naomi Osaka. After having to retire in the final of the Auckland tournament last week, the former world No. 1, 27, was once again forced to throw in the towel in the third round of the Australian Open against Belinda Bencic.
The Japanese tennis player, hit in the abdominal area and hampered while serving, put away her rackets after losing the first set in the deciding game (while leading 5-2 and serving for the set). The double winner in Melbourne, who eliminated Caroline Garcia in the first round, is definitely out of luck since she has three withdrawals in three tournaments (after Beijing last fall).
Returning to the circuit at the start of 2024, after a long break where she gave birth to a daughter, Osaka played a third round of Grand Slam for the first time since 2022, already at the Australian Open. Bencic, former world 4th gold medalist at the Tokyo Games in 2021, returned to the circuit in October after also giving birth to a daughter.
The Swiss will face in the round of 16 the winner of the duel between the American Coco Gauff (No. 3) and the Canadian Fernandez (No. 30).
-Sabalenka is a battler
Among the other women’s matches of the night, Aryna Sabalenka had to fight to get rid of Clara Tauson (7-6 (5), 6-4). The world No. 1 was broken four times at the start of the match and saw her opponent serve to win the first set. The Belarusian, double title holder, managed the second part of the match much better to sign a 17th consecutive victory at Melbourne Park and offer herself a round of 16 against the young Mirra Andreeva, who beat the Polish Magdalena Frech ( 6-2, 1-6, 6-2).
During their only Grand Slam meeting, at Roland Garros last year, the Russian defeated Sabalenka after a fierce three-set fight.
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